Demonstrating receptor engagement does not demonstrate clinical reversal of benzodiazepine amnesia.
A basmisanil study combined preclinical work with early human investigations. The compound attenuated diazepam-associated spatial-learning impairment in rats; human PET and EEG work assessed target engagement and functional activity.
The animal memory task and human biomarker studies did not establish the same endpoint. A selective negative modulator’s profile cannot be assumed to apply to all GABA-A agents or to ordinary clinical reversal.
State which species produced each finding. Human receptor occupancy does not establish improved memory or safe treatment of intoxication. A forensic explanation should preserve the distinction between an experimental mechanistic strategy and a demonstrated effect on an individual’s perception, recall or functional ability.
Source: PMC8032764, supplied full-text paper. Findings are paraphrased; forensic implications are an interpretation.
Related: Midazolam Did Not Disrupt Reactivated Fear Memory in Ethanol-Withdrawn Rats.